Demi-human Girls Completion Manual
Chapter 209 - 90. Location of the Relic

Chapter 209: 90. Location of the Relic

Yesterday evening, the moonlight was beautiful, and the fantastic festive atmosphere of the Gedelin Festival infected many citizens of Nali City. It seemed as though the previous attack on the Schwali delegation had no impact on them at all.

Indeed, that was the case. Even though the citizens were aware of the incident, essentially, their lives remained unchanged. At most, due to recent confrontations between the royals and the Griffin Party against the New Party, there was slight discontent toward the New Party, but it wasn’t targeted at the security issues of the academic conference. Instead, it was focused on the inherent corruption within their ranks.

Previously mentioned, the economic policies of the New Party leaned towards liberalism, lowering regulatory standards in several sectors including the market to stimulate the economy, but this doesn’t mean that the New Party or the Nali Officials had completely let go of control.

While the economy soared, the New Party undertook tax reforms, greatly expanding the national treasury funds, which were then allocated to urban development, revitalization of factories, environmental improvements, and other aspects—all handled by the New Party government of Nali with some effectiveness.

The issue of corruption also meant that members of the New Party were squandering public funds recklessly, with possibly less than thirty percent of all tax revenues being effectively used, while the remaining seventy percent flowed into private pockets.

This, indeed, was the biggest recent setback faced by the Nali Pioneer Party.

For some time, their lavish expenditures at luxury places like the Pink Hall had been exposed by the media extensively, and in council meetings, they were attacked ferociously by the Griffin Party and unable to retaliate, largely because Dexter within the Golden Palace covertly supported attacks on the New Party.

The approach of impartiality was something the prince still understood. He had never had the opportunity to suppress the New Party before and now could seize this chance to dampen the New Party’s bold stance, without regard for prior relations; as for the Griffin Party, they hit the hardest when someone is already down.

Fisher even heard that the Griffin Party had employed many media journalists to monitor places like the Pink Hall daily, just to capture a photo of a New Party member moonlighting, and then exchange these photos for money at the Griffin Party.

However, this had essentially nothing to do with Scholar Fisher. After all, the foundation of the New Party remained unshaken, although they had recently faced considerable hardships...

Who could blame them? They had been sailing smoothly for years, and this might be one of the few severe crises faced by the New Party since its establishment.

The political system in Nali appeared to be a balance of power between the Golden Palace and the Council; in reality, it was a tripartition between the Golden Palace, the Griffin Party, and the New Party because even the opposition parties maintained voting rights in the council.

Certain official institutions had to reserve positions for members of the opposition parties to prevent any single party from becoming overly dominant.

This was an implicit mechanism from the inception of the system and explicitly outlined in the kingdom’s constitution, a product of countless compromises among various parties.

Despite its flaws, compared to the noble-dominated council of Schwali and Kado’s theocratic intervention in politics, it was much better.

The academic conference continued over the next two or three days. The New Party had learned their lesson this time; if you like tinkering underground, they directly ordered the construction of a new small building within Saint Nali University, excavated beneath it, and applied several layers of protection magic.

Now, not even a fly could get in, and it was estimated that the Pink Hall had no plans to plot another attack.

The meetings for the remaining days took place there. However, the first day’s debate was the highlight. After Fisher answered a few of their questions, the agenda began transitioning to other segments.

The Forbidden Magic Delegation first expressed their gratitude towards Professor Fisher Benavides for his theories, and although no direct announcement was made about the outcome of the meeting, it was clear that Fisher had come out on top in the debate.

Subsequently, there was an in-depth exchange meeting between Schwali and Nali scholars, covering topics like exchange students between academies, cross-national course offerings, and dual affiliations for professors from both countries.

At the meeting, Prince Schwali Luosang personally invited Fisher to become an honorary professor at the Schwali Royal Magic Academy, as a symbol of renewed goodwill between the academic communities of the two nations.

As a result, Fisher had his photo taken with Prince Luosang, surrounded by a barrage of media flashes that left his eyes aching from the glare.

Afterward, the remaining meetings weren’t Fisher’s concern but involved the educational elite of Schwali and Nali exchanging ideas. Prince Luosang was quite busy these days.

Anyway, since that night, Fisher hadn’t seen Carolina again, but she was probably with Luosang.

Why?

Because every morning, Prince Luosang came to the meetings with a beaming smile, clearly displaying that youthful vigor of someone newly in love, radiating with happiness.

Until about Wednesday noon, Fisher finally had lunch with Prince Schwali again—it was Luosang who had made the invitation.

The lunch was just the two of them, and they were specially arranged in a private room. Only dishes were served, remarkably without wine, which was a necessary element in Schwali’s dining traditions.

When Fisher walked in, Luosang probably guessed what he was thinking. He smiled and explained,

"I have a meeting with Carolina this afternoon, so no wine."

Prince Luosang straightened his clothes, looked at the unmindful Fisher beside him, and suddenly recalled how he had introduced Carolina before. He then felt quite melancholic.

This guy only bothered to introduce her, not clarifying the details at all. That left him tangled up that night, even causing him to impulsively grab Carolina’s hand.

He simply didn’t want to miss the opportunity and spoke out to keep her without thinking much more about it.

But in the end, a few days had passed, and Luosang had no regrets at all—not even a bit. In fact, he was thankful for his decisive action that day.

After all, the company of a witch was indeed very delightful...

But still, he had to air his grievances. If it weren’t for the meeting with Carolina that afternoon, imposing a drinking penalty on Fisher would have been inevitable.

"You, hiding all these details from me before—were you trying to get me killed?"

"It was you who said that as long as you liked her and she was a lady, it would be fine."

"Rubbish, is she even a lady?"

"Isn’t she?"

Prince Luosang opened his mouth, not knowing what image had surfaced in his mind. Then, his lips trembled as if he was experiencing an epiphany, and he admitted,

"It seems so, huh..."

"..."

It was unclear what he had recalled to reach that conclusion, but Fisher sensed that Luosang hadn’t come to him over this issue for mere nitpicking but rather for a joke.

Fisher smiled, ate some dishes, and asked,

"So, what do you want with me today?"

Prince Luosang wiped his lips and then said,

"Here’s the thing, after this meeting, I plan to take her away from Nali and return to Schwali, although going back will also be troublesome..."

Taking Carolina back, the Queen of Schwali would surely investigate this girl’s background. As for when she would find out Carolina was a deserter from the Witch Research Association and when she would find out that Carolina wasn’t even considered a girl before, it was unknown.

In any case, these two milestones couldn’t be avoided, and setbacks were likely inevitable.

However, since Prince Luosang was willing to make this decision, Fisher could only trust that he had the courage to face difficulties, so he sincerely wished,

"I hope everything goes well for you."

Prince Luosang gave a bitter smile and shook his head as he returned to the matter at hand,

"Hopefully... Carolina has told me everything. She asked me to remind you not to easily reveal your identity. Pink Hall, right? It has deep waters behind it. Your connection with her is a secret, completely flawless. She also advised you that if there is an investigation, there’s a woman named Anna in Pink Hall who is very important; she said you have met her before."

Fisher thought for a moment; the image of a dignified, exquisitely beautiful woman appeared in his mind. He had seen that woman twice, once impersonating a Schwali person to enter Pink Hall and once during a volunteer teaching event at the Full Moon Church...

His Schwali persona couldn’t be used, as Trandell was involved in the previous arrangement, and with the New Party’s current situation, entry might not be possible again.

Fisher felt that the volunteer teaching route might be feasible, as according to the bishop there, Anna seemed to frequent the Full Moon Church for prayers.

"I understand, thank her for the warning."

Fisher nodded and said so.

"There’s one more thing..." Prince Luosang reached into his pocket, pulled out a piece of paper, and handed it to Fisher, "This is the reward she promised you, an address of a relic."

Fisher took the paper, unfolded it, and saw a very detailed map drawn by Carolina. Her drawing skills were strong, and she had annotated a lot of text.

This witch relic was actually in the Northern Realm!

Moreover, it was within the largest kingdom in the Northern Realm, the Sardinia Female Country.

That is, the Witch Research Association had once ventured across the sea to the Northern Realm states to investigate this relic, and there, they had acquired a strand of black hair related to the Undead Witch...

"Carolina said that this relic is very deep and very dangerous, located deep in the sparsely populated Sema Mountains in the Northern Realm. Merely reaching the relic had already resulted in many deaths, and the former president of the Witch Research Association disappeared inside and has not returned till now."

"The strand of hair on Carolina herself was found on the outskirts of the relic; its original Magic Power is now lost, and she is slowly transforming back into a human..."

When Fisher heard this, he asked subconsciously,

"Transforming back into a human? Does that mean she is losing her traits? Isn’t she..."

Prince Luosang covered his face with his hands, waving dismissively,

"Don’t think too much; she hasn’t reverted to her original form, but remains a proper lady... She just meant that she can’t use that hair strand to pinpoint the exact location of the true witch anymore. There might be more clues inside the relic, but it’s very dangerous; you must be careful."

Fisher looked at the map with the detailed route in his hands and nodded,

"I’ll be careful; thank her for me."

His gaze lingered on the map drawn by Carolina, where she had written in annotations,

"Sema, meaning ’Trolls’ in Northern Language, is the largest mountain range in the Northern Realm, perpetually covered by ice and snow. Even the oldest inhabitants of the Northern Realm have never fully explored its mysteries. You must strictly follow my route to avoid any mishaps."

"By the way, many demi-humans seem to live there, in case you are interested in studying them."